The Warmth of Sneezing
by cravingjupiter
Summary: Bella gets sick and is forced to confront how human she really is. How far will Edward go to make sure she gets well? A/N- Might want to skip this if sickness/sneezing creeps you out. Yes, that means you.
1. Everyone does it

A/N- Sadly, I do not own Twilight. All reviews are appreciated, even the sucky ones. Peace and love.

I stood as still as I could, not wanting to miss anything. Even if I was merely an observer, I wouldn't give up a chance to watch the collective perfection of the Cullens at play. Especially now. Now that the decision had been made, I had to soak in as much of them as I possibly could. I would soon be a Cullen myself. I would soon be expected to live, to hunt, to play with them, and I couldn't help but think that forgiveness would be much more difficult to come by when I could no longer blame my imperfections on being human.

Alice was up to bat. I studied her sculpted arms, as her white hands tensed around the slender wood. Looking down at my own arm, I tried to mimic her strength by flexing. Nothing. She bounced her knees and swayed slightly, readying herself for the force that Carlisle was about to heave at her.

Through the silent outfield, Emmett yelled, "Everybody move in!" which was followed by a booming laughter that scattered across the field.

Carlisle raised his hands and cupped the ball in front of him, as Alice quietly snickered. "Bring it on," she sang smoothly.

I didn't see anything else before I heard the loud _CRACK_ of the bat that seemed to warm the dark gray sky. And Alice had turned into a racing blur. That's something I knew I could definitely get used to as a vampire. Actually being able to _see_ all that was going on around me. I smiled at the thought.

Alice came to a sudden but gentle halt beside me. I half expected her to be panting, but that was just the human in me again.

"They should know better," she whispered with a small smirk. I knew the rest of the Cullens had heard this, because Emmett laughed once again, the field below us trembling .

Then, as if Emmett's howling laugh had loosened them from their clouds, I felt a few drops of rain hit my warm skin. I looked down at my arms to find the drops pooling together and rolling off. Alice and Esme both looked over at me once they realized the rain had begun.

"We should get you a coat," Esme worried, as her motherly instincts took over.

Edward, who was now up to bat, looked back to me at hearing Esme's concern. But I smiled shyly and politely insisted that I didn't need one, that it wasn't raining hard enough yet. I was tired of always being the one to put a kink in the Cullens' armor, so to speak. It was always me. As I spoke, a cool whip of air wound around me, causing me to shiver. I took a step back in hopes that Alice hadn't noticed my humanness.

Another loud _CRACK_, and Edward was a white fog through the slowly steadying rain. I laughed to myself at all the other humans who probably heard rattling thunder in the skies rather than a game of baseball amongst vampires. How lucky I was to be given the chance to know the difference. And though it was silly of me, I sometimes found myself wondering what the point was to the Cullens playing baseball like this. They rarely _didn't_ hit home runs; where was the fun in always being too good? Another wind swooped under my hair and caused me to shudder.

I turned away from the field and noticed a big, smooth rock that I'd overlooked when we first got there. It was off to the side of the field behind Esme and Alice. I decided that I would attempt to climb it. Being human, I learned that the only way to take your mind off of something (in this case, the rain), was to focus it on something else.

I turned to make sure both Edward and Alice (but especially Edward) weren't watching. If they saw me trying to climb a rock, they'd, for sure, freak out and worry until my feet were safely planted on the earth. Even if the rock _did_ only come up to about my waist. They would argue that I was rarely sturdy on solid ground; what made me think I could safely climb a rock?

Edward was, somehow, up to bat again, and Alice was chatting with Esme, so I took my chance. Walking around behind the rock, I placed my hands and knees on it. I guess I'd forgotten the rain, because I could feel the water sink through my jeans and bleed onto my knees. I was proud that my plan of forgetting had already worked so well. Slowly crawling to the top of it only took me a few more seconds. The tricky part was trying to stand.

I planted my right shoe just to the side of me. Then my left. I was now squatting and praised myself for doing such a thing on my own. I tried to strengthen my knees which would hopefully allow me to stand, but another loud _CRACK_ immediately echoed throughout the field which terrified me, causing me to slip. I guess I let out a squeal because the next thing I knew, Alice was holding my arms, my back wet and resting just against the front of the rock. Edward and Carlisle both rushed towards me at a speed I was incapable of deciphering.

I finally stood, a little shaken. After studying my face, Alice slipped her cool hands from around my wrists. Carlisle kept asking me if I was okay to which I consistently answered with a nod. I could feel the crimson sliding onto my cheeks. Human, once again. I was so embarrassed.

After a moment, Edward wrapped his stone arm around my waist and helped me stumble away from the group. Esme followed close behind. Edward slowly lifted the back of my wet shirt and ran his cool fingers down my bare back. I shivered. He put my shirt back down.

"Sorry," he whispered into my rain-drenched hair.

"It's only a few scratches," I heard him quietly speak to Carlisle. "No blood."

Carlisle nodded, a sheet of relief plastered to his face. Spilling human blood near vampires was a huge no. Even if they could control themselves, there was always the chance of it being too much for them to handle....

"I'll take her back," Edward continued, to which I shot him a fiercely desperate look. The last thing I wanted to do tonight was give up.

"Hey, dont you want to get nice and warm, bundle up in dry clothes?" He made it sound inviting, and I cringed at how he always had a gentle way of coaxing me to do what he wanted me to. His syrupy voice didn't help things on my side, either. But tonight was different; I was on a mission. Tonight I wanted to stay.

"Edward, can't I please just climb the rock and watch?"

Without arguing, he sighed and took my hand, leading me back to the rock, which somehow seemed a lot smaller now. He picked me up and took a giant leap, landing on top of it without so much as a stumble. In my mind, I tried to play my shivering body off as pure excitement.

I wiggled out of his arms as he set me down next to him. I turned away from him with another shiver and tried to concentrate on Jasper who was now up to bat, but a thought threw me off course. Maybe I was going about this all wrong. Maybe the human way to avoid something is to embrace it so fully that it has to refuse you. It was worth a shot, for the sake of being a little less human tonight. _Tonight,_ I decided, _I will embrace the rain._

Holding my arms out to my side, I threw my head back and opened my mouth. I had to squint to the keep the drops from stinging my eyes, but the taste of it seemed sweet. Sweet and cool against my hot throat. If I weren't embarrassed by this, I would've admitted that it almost tasted like kissing Edward. But then, as if he could actually read my mind, he broke the silence.

"Bella," he paused. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Catching rain," I answered, my head still thrust back.

He chuckled and shook his head. "You'll catch a cold. That's what you'll catch."

I turned and shot him a scowl which caused him to smile. He pulled me into a tight hug. I normally wouldn't try to refuse such a thing, but I feared that he'd feel me shivering. Which he did before I could escape his touch....

"_Bella._" His voice sounded worried.

As if on cue, I felt a tickle in my nose. I held a finger up to Edward and turned towards the other side of the rock. He was the last person I wanted to see my human weaknesses.

How ironic. Here I was fighting the human in me, even if only for the night, and as if the world were trying to shove it back in my face, I had to sneeze. You can't get more human than sneezing.

_You're human, Bella,_ I heard in my mind. _You'll always be human._ Over and over again.

"Heh... HitChew!" The sneeze hitched me forward, almost taunting me off the rock, but Edward caught me with both of his hands by the waist.

He furrowed his dark brow, his lips pursed. "Alright, you're coming with me."

He slung me over his shoulder and onto his back with a quick movement, and before I knew it, we were sliding through the woods. I didn't notice the passing trees or the growth that was forever green. But I could feel the heavy drops of rain hitting me in the face. I burrowed my face into the back of Edward's neck, hoping to escape the pounding.

As soon as we reached the truck, Edward tucked me under the jacket I had left behind and took off down the road. He always drove fast, and tonight was no exception. It was funny, not once had I ever witnessed him getting pulled over. Even if he _had_ gotten pulled over, I'm sure he could easily talk himself out of a ticket. _He was good like that._

It was silent until Edward turned the heater up to high. I closed my eyes and embraced the warmth as it surrounded my face. First I had decided to embrace the rain, now the warmth. _Ambivalent human,_ I heard someone whisper. After a few more minutes of silence, I turned to watch Edward through the dark of the night. I could see his face perfectly.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, my voice sounding small.

He cracked a smile. "Of course not. Why would I be mad?"

I shrugged but refused to say anything, as I felt a tickle slowly building. I closed my eyes and brought my hands to cover my nose and mouth.

"Bella?"

"Huh?" I asked through my hands.

"Are you... okay?" I could tell his driving had slowed a bit as he looked over at me.

Nodding, I answered. "Uh-huh." Turning towards the window (to shield my humanness from Edward), I took a deep breath. "HetCHEW!"

"_Oh._ Bless you."

"Sorry," I squeaked, trying to ready myself for another. "Heh.... HitCHEW!"

"Bless you, Bella."

"Thanks...." I clumsily leaned forward in defeat, resting my head on my arms on the dashboard. I was starting to feel a little dizzy with all of the heat. Not to mention, my sneezing. Without looking, I reached over and started to roll the window down. The sudden cool air caused me to shiver once more.

"Are you too hot?" Edward asked, pressing his slender fingers to my cheek.. There was a hint of worry and confusion in his voice. "You feel warm."

I nodded, "I'm fine, I think. And I'm _always_ warm to you," I reminded him. But another taunting tingle hit my nose.

I brought my head up a bit and plastered my hands back to my face as I had before. My breathing got heavier and on the release, my sneeze was so forceful that it bounced my forehead into the dashboard. "Hih... Hih... HitSHOO!"

"Oh, Bella." He made a quick movement, reaching out his arm to brace me. "_Bless you._"

"Ouch... ugggh," I moaned, rubbing my forehead, and pressed myself back against the seat. My nose was still tickling.

"You're getting sick," Edward whispered through pursed lips. He slid me close to him, and I pressed my warm face into his neck; fire against ice. "We should have left earlier, I'm sorry. We're almost home," he reassured me.

As we pulled into the driveway, I turned to face Edward and feigned a smile.

"You don't have to stay the night."

"Nonsense," he furrowed his brow.

"Really, I"ll be fine," I pressed. "I promise."

"Bella Swan, since when have you not wanted me to stay the night?" His expression seemed doubtful.

I absently ran my finger down my nose with a sniffle.

He nodded. "I thought so." He reached over me and popped the passenger door open. "I'll see you upstairs," he finalized.

I grumbled and slid out into the cold. Drawing my jacket tighter to me, I headed for the front door. Charlie would, no doubt, be waiting for me on the couch, as he always was. Hopefully I sounded sick enough that he'd leave me to rest in my room for the night.

Opening the door, I tried to sound enthusiastic. Maybe a little too enthusiastic. "Hi, Dad."

"Hey," Charlie answered. "You have fun tonight with the Cullens?"

I nodded with a sniffle and tried to smile.

"Bells, you okay? You sound like you've been crying."

"No, I'm fine, Dad. Just feeling a, a little uh," my voice quieted as my breath began to hitch. At least he'd believe me. "Hih'CHEW...sorry, just a little stuffy."

"Oh," his face dropped. "Are you getting sick?"

I shrugged. "I'll go take some medicine, just in case."

"Good idea. And get some sleep. With any luck, that stuff'll knock you out til the morning."

"Thanks, Dad. Goodnight."

"Night, Bells."

I drifted into the kitchen and acted like I was taking medicine. My night of refusing to be human had failed. If it was at all possible, I was now more human than I'd been earlier in the evening, and taking medicine would surely prove that the night had won, that my humanness had prevailed. I mused to myself, if Edward didn't ever have to take medicine, neither did I.

My feet were heavy as I climbed the stairs. Opening my bedroom door, I saw him sitting motionless in the rocker. I smiled. This is how I found him every night. After I shut the door, he stood and moved to the edge of my twin-sized bed.

"Do you mind if I take... a few minutes to be human?" I grumbled as I gathered my pajamas. I had to roll my eyes at myself. The phrase was a ridiculous one because as of late, I'd wanted to be anything but human. Though Edward knew what this meant.

"Take as long as you like," he grinned. "I'll be right here."

I fled to the end of the hall and shut the bathroom door behind me a little too hard. Immediately peeling my wet clothes off, I started the hot water, hoping that a shower would make me feel better. I stepped in and let it rush over me. After a few minutes under the water, I felt my nose begin to tickle. I shut the water off in disgust at myself.

Taking my time, I brushed my teeth slowly. Any other night I'd be racing to get back to Edward, but if I happened to sneeze in here a few times, that's a few less sneezes that Edward had to see. So, with the tickle still in my nose, I stared at the lights above the mirror. My mouth hung open, as I tried to coax the sneeziness out. _Nothing_.

Completely frustrated, I finally gave up. I stepped into my tattered tee-shirt and baggy sweatpants, ran a comb through my wet hair, grabbed the box of tissues from the sink (just in case), and headed back to my room.

Edward was sitting where I had left him. After I shut the door, he stood, whipped the comforter off of my bed, and embraced me. He always wrapped me up, as to make sure that his skin didn't touch mine. His skin usually felt cooler to my human touch at night.

After he let go of me, I immediately dropped down onto my bed and laid on my back. I blankly stared up at the ceiling. He slid over top of me and laid down next to me on his side.

"Bella?"

"_Yeah._" I hoped he couldn't hear the involuntary harshness in my voice.

"Is something wrong?"

I shook my head without a word. Suddenly, I felt a tear slide down the side of my face. I couldn't tell if it was from me being so upset or because my eyes were burning with sneezes that refused to come. I tried to blink it away before Edward could notice it.

His cold finger caught the tear, and I rolled over to my side, my back facing him. Right then, I imagined the tear turning to ice on his fingertip. _Why could I not turn tears to ice?_

As if to answer, I felt my breathing begin to hitch. I pressed my hands to cover my face. "Hih... HitCHEW!"

"Bless you," Edward whispered.

After a few minutes of thick silence, I spoke through my hands which were still covering my nose and mouth. I had to work at controlling my voice to keep it from cracking with emotion. "I'm not mad at you, Edward." I shook my head against my pillow. "I'm not."

"Well, are you feeling alright?"

I nodded, another sneeze beginning to surface. "Huh... Huh... Hh'CHOO!" It caused me to lurch forward, my bed gently squeaking beneath us.

"_Bless_ you."

Sniffling, I grabbed a tissue from my nightstand and blew my nose. I filled two tissues with a gurgling mess and dropped them onto the floor. I shuddered at how sick it sounded, at how human it was.

"Bella, it's okay." He ran his fingers through the back of my wet hair causing me to shiver. "Sneezing is normal. Everyone does it."

After his words registered, I shook my head, this time more forcefully. If tears had a voice, they would have sounded like mine. "_No_, Edward. _Everyone_ doesn't sneeze. _You are everyone to me_, and _you_ don't sneeze." The tears threatened to choke me. I then realized just how sore my throat was feeling.

"_Oh_," he answered, realization probably setting in. I feared that he now understood what this was about. He had never wanted me to take being human for granted. In his eyes, _he_ was the only monster here, not me.

Something suddenly snapped inside my chest, and I'd had enough distance between us. I quickly rolled over and pushed my face into his chest, a few tears spilling from my eyes.

"_I'm so sorry_," I trembled. "I'm really not mad at you."

"Shhh, it's okay," he whispered, wrapping his arms around me and the comforter. But this wasn't enough for me. I wanted to feel him. I had to be as close to him as I possibly could be. As human as it sounded, his touch was the only one that could soothe my heart.

Panting, I struggled to crawl out of the comforter and flailed my limbs trying to free them.

"What are you-"

"_Please._ Just hold me," I whimpered, my voice heavy with desperation for his touch.

"Bella, whoa whoa. Hey, it's okay," he tried to calm me. He carefully helped me out of the comforter and slid himself off the end of the bed. My jaw dropped in terror as I thought he might be leaving me, but I then realized what he was doing.

He grabbed a hooded sweatshirt from my closet and another pair of sweatpants from the dresser. Without a word, he slid the sweatshirt over my raised arms and my head, and he held the pants as I stepped into them. I immediately wrapped my arms around his hard body with a force I'd not known I had. He cradled the back of my head, gently embracing me against his chest.

"Is that good? Or shall I find you more sweats?"

I answered the only way I knew how tonight. I pressed my mouth to his, dough against marble, and a minute later, he sat us both down on the edge of the bed with a smile. He leaned forward and kissed my cheek and then my lips.

As if he sensed a lingering hint of concern in my eyes, he whispered to my face, "It's really okay, Bella."

Out of nowhere, his cool, sweet breath tickled my nose. I quickly turned away from him, my breath accelerating, and pressed my hands to my face. "HapSHOO!" I took a deep breath and again slightly lurched forward, "HupSHOOO!"

"_Bless you,_" he smiled towards me, grabbing a few tissues and handing them to me. As soon as I emptied my nose, I dropped back down to my pillows behind me. Edward followed.

Completely disappointed by the night, I silently decided that I should at least try to get some answers. What else would I have to show for the night, if not a little knowledge?

"Edward, can I ask you a question?"

"Anything."

I coughed and cleared my throat. It was beginning to feel raw. "Why do you play baseball?" I paused, not wanting to sound critical. "Your family. I mean, why play when you all are so perfect at it. Doesn't that sort of take some of the fun out of it?"

He let out a breath from his pursed lips. The scent was engaging. "I can see where one might think that. But. It's more of the freedom. The ability to unleash _all_ of our strength." His voice dropped off and swam to my neck. "Even if it _is_ only against a baseball in some empty field."

I smiled. "I like that answer."

He held his lips just beside my mouth to tease me. "Do you?"

I wanted so much to kiss him, but his breath tickled my nose once more. I quickly lifted my head and drew my pillow from underneath me and held it over my face. I'm surprised Edward didn't think I was trying to suffocate myself.

"HuhCHEW!" Surprised at how strong they were getting, I groaned and lifted the pillow so that I could inhale deeply. Then into the pillow again. "Heh'CHEW!"

After a second, Edward lifted the pillow. "Is it my turn to ask something?" he questioned. He twisted the drawstring of my hoodie around his finger.

"Anything." I hated how congested I sounded.

"Why do you turn away from me when you sneeze?" His voice was calm and curious.

I hesitated for a split second before my nose started to tingle. "Wha- _What do you mean_?" I whispered, trying to distract him (or myself, I couldn't tell). I pushed myself up onto my elbows and turned toward the nightstand. Not able to cover my mouth, I aimed towards the floor. "Heh_CHOO!_" A deep breath. "HuhCHOO!"

Edward chuckled. "That," he answered. "You did it again."

I sniffled and sighed, my throat feeling scratchy. I laid my head back on the pillow and waited a few seconds.

"I don't want you to see me sneeze."

"What? _Why on earth..._"

"I know, it's incredibly stupid of me. But it's just annoying. I hate sneezing, especially now, and it makes me feel gross."

He clicked his tongue against his teeth and furrowed his brow. "_Especially now_."

I nodded with another sigh. "Whenever I sneeze...." I paused. The word, alone, made me shudder. "It just makes me feel even less capable of ever being anything other than, I don't know, other than what I am to you now," I huffed.

"And what are you to me now," he pressed. He knew the answer, but he wanted to hear me say it.

I rolled over on my side to face him, and ran my trembling finger along his perfect, stone arm. "_Human_," I sighed.


	2. You are my favorite scent

I tried to open my eyes which felt swollen with a heavy sleep. The light from my bedroom window shone off the white wall I was facing, which caused me to have to squint my already-warped eyes. I felt like I'd just slept through an eternity. I hadn't even moved yet, and already I could feel how achy I would be. I reluctantly turned my head, looking towards the nightstand, but was surprised to find Edward sitting in the rocking chair across the room. He looked up from his book and let it slide to the ground.

"Morning."

I opened my mouth to speak but didn't want him to hear my scratchy voice. I could tell it would sound horrid. Instead I lifted my hand in a half-wave.

His lips curled to the side in a smile as he rose and slipped over to my bed. He sat and brushed a piece of tangled hair out of my face, letting his fingers lightly graze my forehead. The cool of his skin was welcome this morning. I smiled back at him and started to twist myself so I could see the clock.

"Eleven-seventeen," he answered before I could roll all the way over.

"Mmm." I let out a groan and stretched my arms toward the headboard of my bed. They felt tight as if I'd been hauling bricks all night. "Ugh, how long did I sleep?"

"About ten and a half hours."

Furrowing my brow, I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to regain full consciousness. How could I have slept for so long?

"You shouldn't pout, you needed the rest. You were exhausted." Lacing his hard, thin fingers through mine, he drew my hand up, placing a gentle kiss on the inside of my wrist. "Are you feeling better?"

I touched my neck with my free hand and tried to remember the night before. Had I really thrown half of a tantrum about sneezing? How humanly dramatic of me.

"Uh, well my throat's kind of sore, and I feel a little . . ." I paused, nearly lost in thought again. I didn't want him to know how achy I was feeling this morning. The pain of my genius falling-off-the-rock stunt had somehow multiplied over night. "But hopefully my uh." I was hesitant, this time not actually wanting to say last night's word. "Well hopefully that won't be so bad today."

Edward's expression slowly changed, his eyebrows lifting in amusement.

"Why are you grinning like that?"

He shrugged. "No reason. You just . . . well, you were coughing and _sneezing_," he emphasized the word as he pressed his hand to my cheek, "quite a bit after you fell asleep last night."

"Wh- ugh, I'm sorry . . . . " I nervously looked away from him.

"Don't apologize, Bella. It was," his eyes playfully wandered the room. "Entertaining. At least it was to see you so uninhibited like that."

I forced a hard laugh and an accidental cough escaped from my chest. "So glad I could entertain you . . . ." my voice trailed off, followed by a few lighter coughs.

"As am I. But I brought you this, in case." He pulled a short glass bottle out of his pocket and held it out to me in both of his hands. The dark red liquid severely contrasted with his milky skin. "Medicine," he confirmed. "It sounds like your throat's bothering you already."

Wide-eyed, I shook my head violently and could feel my hot hair frizzing more against the pillow I was lying on. We had played this game just last night. The game of vampire vs. human. And I refused to lose. I refused to let myself be the human. And consumption of medicine? Definitely a human thing.

"A little medicine won't hurt you." He started unscrewing the white plastic lid.

I grabbed his hands to try to stop him from opening the bottle. "Can't we compromise or something? I really don't want any. . . ."

He paused, squinting his eyes in thought and focused them on me. "And why wouldn't you want something to help make you feel better?"

I slowly pushed myself up, trying not to wince, and sat as eye-to-eye with him as I could. Hopefully he would take me more seriously sitting up.

"I already _have_ something to help make me feel better." I reached out my arms and hugged him around the waist, pushing my head into his chest. I wasn't even listening for a heartbeat.

Encompassing me, he nodded with a smirk. He was still holding the bottle of medicine. "Alright. Let's compromise then. How about if you're still coughing by," he flipped his left wrist up to look at his watch, "two this afternoon, will you take something?"

Bringing my head up and cocking it to the side, I rolled my eyes at him and feigned a thoughtful expression. "Deal, I guess."

He laughed at my act and tucked my head back into his chest. He kissed the top of my hair while rubbing my back.

We sat in silence like that, but after a minute, a sudden guilt overtook me. The urge to bring up how sorry I was for my ridiculousness just the night before threw knots in my stomach. After a moment of contemplation, I gave in. "Edward, can we talk?" I spoke into his chest purposefully, though I knew he could hear me anyway.

"About?"

"About how sorry I am for last night." I loosened myself from his grip and looked up. His eyes searched mine as he shook his head.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about, Bella."

I felt a fluttering cough rise in my chest but fought it by slowly clearing my throat. "No, I mean just for being . . . er, for having . . . "

"For being human and having weaknesses." He shook his head again, this time with more force. "Bella, I don't want you to have to change who you are and what you do just because I'm around."

A monstrous fire burned in his eyes. They always looked like this when he was feeling bad about who he was. About what he was.

"To me, you have _no_ weaknesses."

I sighed and slipped my hands into his which were in his lap. For some reason I was craving the cool of his skin. Stretching my fingers out and placing my palm to his, I absentmindedly changed the subject. Anything to avoid my Edward being sad.

"How long did you stay last night?"

His eyes traced our hands before he looked up to me. "I left to get your medicine. Though your sleep was restless until earlier this morning."

I narrowed my eyes onto his face. "Restless?"

"More restless than usual. You were rolling from side to side, coughing a bit, sneezing. I'm surprised you don't remember waking a few times."

"I actually _woke up_?"

Edward nodded once.

"What did I do?"

"Well, you certainly weren't so self-conscious about your _sneeziness_. I guess maybe you had forgotten I was here or something. I'm not quite sure." He chuckled and the fire disappeared from his eyes. "No turning away, no constant apologizing. Just a few regular Bella sneezes." He turned his attention to our hands which I was still playing with.

"You should stop saying that word, I really don't like it," I grimaced.

Edward's eyebrows tightened. "What do you mean?"

I abruptly retracted my hand from Edward's. Pulling my legs to my chest, I crossed my arms around them. "I just don't like that word, especially when it's referring to me."

"Mm_hmm_ . . . ."

Turning my head, I mocked my own voice to break the slight tension that had built. "Now if you were referring to your _own_ sneezes, that'd be okay, but," I rolled my head backwards to stretch my sore neck then refocused on him with a sigh. "You don't sneeze."

He lifted a curious eyebrow. "Says who?"

I tried justifying it out loud. "Well, you can't get sick, you're almost made of stone, your senses don't work right."

"Hey, hey now . . . I can see just fine, I can feel, I can hear, I can taste. I can certainly _smell_ just like you." He leaned over putting his face right next to mine and inhaled through his nose. "You should know. You _are_ my favorite scent," he whispered, his ocher eyes grabbing hold of mine as he pulled away.

I paused. His breath, sweet and delicious, suddenly started to tingle my nose. It was a deathtrap as far as my sneeziness went. If I turned away, I would lose this moment with him, if his scent wafted to me again, I would surely sneeze. I pinched my nose closed and decided not to turn away, though my nostrils were tingling more heavily now, my eyes almost watering. I stared him straight in the eye and tried to focus on not breathing. I would not let him win this one.

He chuckled at my reaction and lifted his eyebrow. I could tell he would not let me off easy today.

Releasing my nose, I took in a quick breath and was pleased to find the tingle had subsided. "Sorry," I genuinely smiled at his disappointment. "Nothing."

After smirking at his own failure, Edward's eyes vacantly drifted towards the floor beside the bed. It looked like he was focusing on something, but when I followed his gaze I couldn't see anything. Looking back to his face, I noticed his lips had parted and his nostrils were slightly flaring. A sudden passion ran through me. Was this it? Was Edward about to sneeze? I settled in and glued my eyes to his distressed expression. He was awkwardly blinking and took a few short breaths in.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned to look at me, a smile crawling across his lips. I guess my quizzical look set him off.

"Thought you were lucky, huh?"

"What?!" I demanded.

"Did you _actually_ think I had to sneeze?" He looked proud of himself.

I had no words. If I hadn't been embarrassed about sneezing in front of him before, his little show would have done it. Teasing me about something that he never did, something that I couldn't help doing. My face dropped and I looked away from him.

Edward heavily sighed after reading me. "Oh, Bella . . . ." He placed his cool hands on my knees and leaned over to me. Kissing me softly on the side of the mouth, he whispered, "I apologize, I didn't mean to upset you."

My face was hard, but I felt another tickle building in my nose. This must have caused my expression to grow more frustrated, because Edward scooted toward me and placed his cold hand underneath my hair onto the back of my warm neck. I felt like he was purely taunting me now.

"Edward . . . Hhh . . ."

He brought his face close, his eyes worried at the sound of his name. I don't think he realized I had to sneeze. I cupped my left hand around his right cheek and quickly shook my head at him. "No . . . " my breathy voice trailed off as I buried my face into my legs which were still pulled into my chest. I quickly put my free arm around me to shield any chance of Edward seeing me.

I inhaled as deeply as I could. "Hh-hih... HiitChOO! HehtCHoo."

"Bless you, Bella," Edward whispered. He removed my hand from his cheek and kissed the top of it.

I drew my head up from my knees and started rubbing my itchy eyes. "Sorry." I looked down at my gray sweatpants and saw a few splatters. I smudged them with my other hand.

"Don't be sorry." He tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear and pressed the back of his hand into my warm cheek. A chill ran through me.

I threw my legs off the side of the bed, my back to Edward, and sneezed again. "HehtCHew!" It caused me to hitch forward, almost sliding me right into the floor. Edward blessed me before I could even finish sneezing and pulled me backwards to him.

He kissed the top of my head and wrapped his arms all the way around my waist, his chest cradling my back.

"Did I start you sneezing again?" His voice was low.

I shrugged, rubbed my eyes, and started to reach for a tissue from the nightstand, but found myself not able to move in Edward's stone arms. "I just, I don't want Charlie to hear me. He has more important things to worry about."

A sudden but deep tickle set in my nose once more. My eyes burned for relief and my breathing picked up dramatically. I couldn't reach the tissues and I would've rather died than sneeze on Edward. I brought my sweatshirt sleeves up to my nose and mouth and barely had time to take a breath.

"HihShoo, hihSHeew!" Edward quietly blessed me after each sneeze and started reaching for the box of tissues before I had finished. I inhaled with the rest of the energy I had and one last time, "HehCHOO!" into my sleeve. The force of this one sent me harder into his chest.

"You're not sounding good at all." He handed me the two tissues that he had grabbed, and I blew my nose. "It sounds like they're getting stronger, Bella. Why don't you take some medicine."

I looked over at my alarm clock. The numbers were blurred through my watery eyes. I blew my nose one last time and dropped the tissues into the floor.

"It isn't two yet . . . ." I reminded him, trying to clear the scratch in my throat. I turned towards him and resituated myself so that we were facing. "And plus, you already broke the compromise by faking."

He lifted an eyebrow in serious question at the roughness of my voice.

"_Yes_, your little non-existent sneeze, remember?" My words sounded short and hot. I crossed my arms over my chest and slumped back against my pillows. I wanted to lay the guilt on thick.

He started caressing my left arm with his pale hands. His continuous touch had a way of melting my anger.

"Edward?" I opened my eyes to find him staring at me. I scrunched my face in discontent at myself, at the question I was about to ask. I suddenly decided against it and shook my head. "Sorry, never mind."

Edward looked hurt, his eyes dropped and focused on my arm which he was still rubbing. "Bella, you know you can ask me anything." His voice was velvet sugar with a hint of defeat.

"I know, it's just a stupid question," I sighed. "Something only a _human_ would ask." I rolled my eyes at myself and focused my gaze onto the quilted comforter on my bed until the wave of emotion had dissipated within me.

After a few minutes, Edward laid my arm in my lap and stood. He tossed me a pair of jeans from my closet and a black sweater.

"Get dressed."

I studied his dark, fierce eyes for a quick second. There was a desperate ring in his voice. Something I didn't often hear.

"Tell Charlie you're coming over for the afternoon, I'll meet you downstairs in five minutes." Before I could ask questions, he slipped out the window without looking back.

After dressing and brushing my teeth, I tramped down the stairs and grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen cabinet. Charlie was plastered in front of the television again.

"Morning. Or should I say Afternoon?" he called from the couch. I faked a laugh while walking into the living room. It was the least I could do to acknowledge his attempt at a joke.

"I wasn't expecting to see you up for another few hours." He turned from the television and looked at me. "You're dressed, are you heading out?"

"Oh, Edward's coming to pick me up . . . if that's okay. We're going to go hang out at his house for the afternoon."

"Uh, okay, yeah. That sounds good, I guess." He scratched his head. "Are you, at least, feeling any better?"

I slowly inhaled through my nose so he could hear for himself. "Yup, I can actually breathe today."

"That's great. I bet it was the medicine that helped so well."

I nodded, feigning a smile. "Yeah . . . ."

Without warning, a sharp prick stung my nose. How stupid that I had actually breathed through my nose like that. Of course I would upset it in front of Charlie, proving my wellness to be not as true as he would've liked. There's no way he would let me step foot out of the house if he knew I was still sick.

I quickly slinked back into the kitchen, shuffled over to the sink, and lifted the lever. Running water was the only last-minute choice I had to mask this sneeze.

"Bells," Charlie called at the sound of the water, "You don't have to do the dishes right now. I'll get them later."

"Hh..Okay, dad!" My voice sounded airy.

Where the heck was Edward? I needed to get out of here.

The tingle in my nose was torturous, and the buildup seemed nearly endless. I was almost afraid I'd miss the sneeze completely and my cover would be blown. Anticipating, I took in one last, sharp breath and clamped down on my nostrils, cutting my air off for a split second.

There was a knock on the door.

"I got it!" Charlie bellowed.

Finally. I pushed down on the sink lever and could hear Edward and Charlie making small-talk. I tried blinking the tears out of my eyes and held my cool hands to my face. There was a burning heat in my cheeks that usually only came around when I was trying to stretch the truth in some form or another. I had to calm down.

"Bells, it's your . . . he's here!"

I had to make this quick. Immediately, I walked straight to the bottom of the stairs where Edward and Charlie were standing. Edward's eyes picked up mine as I came through the hallway. I think he could sense the stinging in them because he slightly nodded in understanding, something that Charlie wouldn't have noticed. I quickly grabbed my jacket that was hanging on the railing and Edward helped me into it. I consciously refrained from making eye-contact with Charlie. He would know. Somehow.

"Have fun. And be safe." Charlie nervously readjusted the ball cap that hung on the banister. He scratched his head again.

I flashed him a fleeting smile and waved. "Bye, dad. See you tonight."

Edward opened the door and I stumbled out as quick as I could. My nose was still tingling. After Edward shut the door, he grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently. We were free.

"You okay?" Edward ducked his head to meet my height and whispered.

I shook my head no and brought my free hand up to itch my nose in frustration.

"I almost didn't . . . hhuh," my eyes fluttered and my breath started hitching, "didn't make it, hhh, in there . . . ."

He swung the Volvo door ajar, but as I was about to slide in, the front door of the house opened again. It was Charlie.

I froze, facing Edward, my back to Charlie. My hand was still up against my nose.

"Edward?" his voice held an air of anxiety and creeped from the house.

"Yes, sir." He gripped my hand a bit tighter for moral support. I held my breath and didn't move.

"No, uh, no wild parties or anything, right?"

"No, sir. Not at all."

"Okay, just checking. Have a good time." The door closed just as quickly as it had opened.

I inhaled and brought the collar of my coat up to cover my face. "HupShoo!" I slightly lurched forward, but felt Edward's hands steady me. I looked up into his worried eyes, which darted my face for a sign of something. Finding nothing, he embraced me in a tight hug, running his hard arms down my back.

"Bella, you're _really_ sick."

Shaking my head no with a sniffle, I pulled away and lowered myself into the passenger seat.

As we pulled out of the driveway, neither of us spoke. After sniffling a few more times in the silence, I turned to look at him.

"Can I ask where we're going?"

"You can ask all you want . . ."

"But you won't answer . . . ." I finished his thought for him.

His hands gripped harder on the steering wheel. "No, I'll answer you. If you answer something for me."

I nodded, remembering our earlier conversation. "Right, compromise."

"So you're agreeing then?"

"Yes, Edward Cullen." I shot him a grin though his eyes were plastered to the road. "I agree."

A smile slid onto his lips. "Excellent. We're going to the field."

A simple answer. Too bad I had to blow my question on such a predictable answer.

"My turn?"

I nodded and folded my arms across my chest, maybe a subconscious way of guarding myself for what he was about to ask. He did have a bad habit of always asking difficult questions. Bad for me, anyways.

"Why do you get _so frustrated_ by your sneezes?"

I sat and embraced the silence for a minute. Edward would give me as much time as I needed. Then, cocking a sarcastic eyebrow, I sighed. "Do you want the long answer or the short answer?"

"I want whichever you're willing to give."

Reluctance teetered which answer I would spill. "Uh. Well . . . . I just. _You don't sneeze_." I turned towards the window, embarrassed that all of this had to do with him.

"That's really all? So if I were to . . . . I'm . . . I guess I'm just afraid you won't get over your cold, Bella, if you keep forcing yourself to _not_ sneeze as much as you need to. I don't want to be the reason why you're still sick."

I shrugged, still looking away. "Then maybe we shouldn't be spending so much time together," I forced through a raspy breath. The very idea made my insides churn.

"Or maybe you're looking at it all wrong," he spoke through his teeth.

I turned back to Edward to find his brow furrowed and his jaw set. Throwing the Volvo in park on the outer edges of a dense forest, he whipped his door open. I climbed out of the car without waiting for him to get my door.

Every other time we'd come to the forest, I would cling onto Edward's back as he sped through the thick green. It only ever took Edward a few seconds to speed from the forest to the field. For me it took an hour. And that was on a good day.

But I didn't want a ride today. I could walk just fine.

Looking at me with questioning eyes, he held out a hand. "No?"

I shook my head. "Thanks, I can walk."

"Bella . . . ." He rubbed the back of his neck in frustration at my unwillingness.

Ten minutes into our hike, my nose inevitably started to tingle. I silently cursed myself and stopped in my tracks. I wouldn't move again until I got these sneezes out.

I turned away from Edward who was a few steps in front of me. It didn't take long for him to notice that I'd fallen behind. He backtracked and came up behind me, slipping his arms around my waist and pressing his face next to mine.

"How are you feeling?"

I didn't answer him for fear of further agitating my sinuses.

I could feel his iron arms wrapped around me, pressing into my stomach. As my breath started hitching, his arms rose and fell with my breathing.

Scrambling to beat my sneeze, I wrapped my arms around his to try to pry his arms off of me. Why didn't he understand that I felt absolutely disgusting when I sneezed around him? And there he was. Doing nothing but encouraging my sneeziness.

"Hh . . . HhhEdward . . . ." I groaned his name still trying to free myself.

"Yes, love?" His sweet scent suddenly whipped around my face and sent my breath to it's peak.

"Hehh . . . het_CHOO_!" I lurched forward, bending at the waist. Just as quickly, another surfaced. "HitCHOO!" The release eased my irritation.

"Bless you," he purred into my ear as soon as I was standing upright again.

I sniffled. "Sorry, thanks. Uh . . . ."

A shiver ran down my spine. "Do you have a . . . "

Before I could finish, Edward was dangling a white handkerchief in front of me. He unwrapped his other arm from around my waist and stepped around to face me. I emptied the gurgling mess from my nose and stuck the handkerchief in my coat. "Thanks, " I breathed, as he brushed some hair back from my collar. I rubbed my eyes and let out a pathetic sigh.

Edward clicked his tongue and furrowed his brow.

"We'll make this quick, alright?" He grabbed my hand and turned. His understanding deeply soothed me. I climbed onto his back and he shot off further into the forest until we came to our field.


	3. Bless you, please stop

We stopped under the trees lining the perimeter of our field. The air felt thicker here and was lying just above the ground in the form of mist. Clearing my throat, I took a deep breath. The air relieved my hot lungs. Sliding off of Edward's back, my head suddenly felt heavier than the rest of my body. A little disoriented, I stumbled and grabbed for the tree beside us to steady myself. Turning to look at me, Edward's worried eyes wandered my face.

"What are we doing?"

"Stay here," he said without answering. He placed a hurried kiss on my lips before flashing clear across the field at an incomprehensible speed. Leaping, he caught hold of a branch and effortlessly started up one of the trees, disappearing into the foggy green.

Walking to the middle of the field, I tried to search him out in the tree tops. At first I thought he might be hunting. But for what? He'd never mentioned a liking for birds. And had I seriously gotten him so worked up that he was fighting to not suck the life right out of me? _Fat chance,_ I thought. I was good, but I wasn't _that_ good.

Then, however irrational it seemed, it occurred to me that my stubbornness could have finally driven him away. I knew I'd always had too much Charlie in me. My mom had been telling me that for as long as I could remember. "You're just like your father," she'd say with a sweet admiration. I guess it hadn't been much of a problem until I met Edward, how something about him always brought out my tenacity. Like I couldn't be anything but truthful and hard and real about everything around him. Maybe he had finally gotten sick of it. So sick that he had no choice but to leave me there.

Though much less life-threatening, I found the latter was the more terrifying of the two scenarios. The thought of him leaving me immediately sent my stomach dropping in endless circles. I made up my mind, though, that I couldn't hold it against him— the leaving part. If I were anyone but me, I would've left my whining, stubborn, sneezy self in the middle of an abandoned field weeks ago. At least Edward did it with goodbye kisses and class.

Rubbing my itchy nose, I called out his name, hoping for an answer. Nothing but my own nervous voice came back. Again. Still nothing. Taking a few steps closer to where he had run off, I stood as silent as I could, straining my ears for any sound of him. After what seemed like a few minutes of noiseless woods, I came to a horrifying realization. He had really left me there.

From behind, I heard the crunching and rustling of leaves and then a muted thud. Suddenly, Edward darted out from a pack of the trees, his fists balled up and his brow furrowed. He looked angry.

"Edward?" My voice cracked with anxiety. "Are you okay?"

"Don't come _any_ closer," he said lowly and carefully, turning his back to me. His stance wasn't normal, completely void of confidence, and his fists were still clenched. He looked up to the stormy sky, and with a sudden jerk of his head, he lurched forward with a hint of disarray I'd never seen in him.

"_uhTCHOO!_" The forceful sneeze echoed off the trees. I flinched, the sound sending my breath into overdrive. The birds all around us, just as surprised as me, started beating their wings into flight and scattered. I focused on the sound of them evaporating into the distance.

After catching my breath, I stood there watching Edward's motionless figure looking up at the sky again. Then, like a wall of stone, it hit me. I remembered, and my heart sank. Edward hadn't sneezed. It was simply a repeat of his earlier attempts at trying to trick me into thinking he had. It sounded halfway believable, even for a vampire, but I wasn't going to fall for it. Not again.

"Edward, that's getting old." I took a few steps closer to him. His head still cocked upwards, he unballed his fists and his tense shoulders started to relax. "Look, Edward, can we just go? I'm starting to get col--"

"eh_TCHOO!_" His throaty sound echoed, this time a little quieter but the force still desperate.

"I said it's not _funny_ anymore, Edward." My voice was frantic and wavering, and I could feel myself on the edge of tears, emotion welling in my chest. He didn't move and was still refusing to acknowledge me.

Heatedly, I slipped out of my jacket, dropping it on the ground. A smoldering rage coursed through my entire body causing my head to throb and my throat to burn. Sure I was in love with a vampire whom I'd do anything for, but I wasn't about to be one of those pathetic human girls who is led to the middle of a field just to be ignored, mocked and made fun of without a single explanation, all damsel-in-distress like. My fury gathered into a ball in the pit of my stomach, and I ran as hard as I could at him, tears now streaming down my face.

He must have heard me and snapped out of whatever he'd been in. Just before I reached him, he turned, and caught the impact of my entire body with his arms, pulling me into his chest.

"_BELLA._" He roared my name with such a rigid intensity, like I'd done something wrong, that it frightened me and caused any vigor I'd mustered up to melt right off me.

Pushing away from him as hard as I could, I started sobbing in a mix of fear and anger. I felt his entire body soften and surround me as I fought to escape his grip. Finally giving up, I collapsed onto the ground where he cradled me, holding me between his legs. He pressed my head into his chest and brushed the dark, stringy hair that was sticking to my tear trails out of my face.

"_Bella, you could have hurt yourself._" His voice was softer, but continued on in intensity under his breath. "In many ways."

I didn't speak and refused to look at him. Tears still rolling down my face, everything around me was a green, blurred mess.

"I'm not safe for you," he whispered. "Not right now."

"Wh--why did you just l-_leave_ me like that and not answer?" I tried choking out through my tears and heaving chest. I coughed, having choked on my own spit. "Why do yo--you just keep _doing_ that."

"Doing what?"

His ignorance, fake or not, washed over me in bucket loads. No matter how useless I was at this point, I wasn't going to play his game. Not today. Struggling to free myself from his arms, I tried with all my remaining might to pull away from him, but he wouldn't let me move. He had the power of at least five grown men, and it felt like he was using every last ounce of it to keep me from budging. I cried even harder, my breaths accelerating and refusing to match up with the rest of my body.

"Shh, Bella, it's alright." He gently rocked me, smoothing his hand over my hair, again and again. "Calm down, you're alright," he whispered, pulling me closer. "Take deep breaths. You're just tired."

As I listened to Edward trying to soothe my breathing to a lull, I wiped my tears and runny nose with the sleeve of my sweater. After catching my breath, I defended myself.

"_I'm not tired._" My voice was scratchy and barely intact. I felt like it was threatening to disappear for a few days. "I'm just _pissed,_" I said trying to sound hard, but still not looking at him.

"What's upsetting you?"

Biting my bottom lip, I tried suppressing another wave of tears that I could feel stinging my eyes. He should have known why I was so upset. I took a deep breath in and my words rushed out, faltering.

"You keep making fun of me. For—for being human and _sneezing_, and I hate it more than anything that y—"

"_Whoa_, hey. Bells, I'm not— you, I don't want you to think—" Frustrated, he paused to gather his words and exhaled unhurriedly. His sugary scent flooded my face with cold. I breathed it in, a tickle threatening to overtake my nose. "You said earlier that I— that vampires— that we don't sneeze. That we can't."

Edward further relaxed his body. Shrugging out of his arms, I sat up and rearranged myself in his lap to face him, but kept my head down. He started drawing aimless circles on my thigh while he continued speaking. I could feel his cool fingertip through my jeans.

"Well, we _can_ sneeze. And we do. Occasionally."

Looking up, I met his gaze for the first time since he'd left for the treetops.

"No—" I shook my head, and he chuckled.

"We can, Bella." Brushing a finger over one of my cheeks, he smirked. "We usually don't, but it does happen."

I was at a complete loss for words, my mouth hanging half open. Edward tapped my chin and laughed again.

"It's not that unbelievable, is it?"

"You don't— I've never seen you . . . I haven't seen you sneeze before. _You don't._"

Sheepishly, he looked down at the circles he continued to draw on my leg. "Yes. You've seen me."

"Just—"

He nodded. "Just now, yes."

"But why? I mean," I took a deep breath and rubbed my irritated eyes. "_How?_"

He didn't look at me while he answered. "Why? Because vampires have physical bodies. Yes, most of our senses are heightened, but they can still be aggravated, just like yours. And well," he paused, looking past me, his eyebrows strangely raised. "How . . ." his voice softly trailed off. He sat up straighter, allowing room between us, and took his hand completely off of my back, draping it over his own knee. Taking a weighty breath in, he turned from me and brought his fist up to his mouth. "uh_tCHOO!_" Afterwards, he let out a yielding sigh of relief. "Excuse me."

As he turned back, he grinned at my reaction.

"Um," I stammered. "Bless— you."

He resumed his closeness with me, replacing his hand on the small of my back, and smiled. "Thank you."

Eyes still wide, I questioned him. "So uh . . . you can uh, do that on command then."

Edward chuckled and shook his head. "That was actually more a coincidence."

"Um . . ."

My face must have been overly perplexed, because Edward's amused expression dropped. "What's wrong, love?"

"You— I've never seen or even heard you do that. Sneeze." I coughed, my throat still threatening to give out on me. "Not once, and now you're sneezing incessantly. And I just— I don't understand it at all."

He exhaled sweeping his fingers back and forth on the nape of my neck underneath my hair. This sent a slight chill through me. "You said you wouldn't feel so horrible about sneezing if I, too, sneezed. That you wouldn't be as ashamed. And, well, here I am. Which means you have to keep up your end of the agreement, yes?"

"But _how?_ What'd you do that you're suddenly sneezing up a storm?"

Edward looked up to the tree tops while he explained. "Before Carlisle . . . changed me, before I actually even knew him. I had a few allergies back then. I suppose I just thought I'd try them out," he said, placing both of my hands in his lap. "Though I have to say, I feel quite out of practice. It's been a while."

We sat in silence for a minute, Edward playing with my hands, tracing his long, thin fingers over mine. I watched his face as he was looking down at our hands. He paused, withdrawing his arms from mine.

I studied his marble features. How his slender, sculpted nose slightly twitched and his jaw set, wanting to gain control of the arising force. He tightened his chest. Blinking unsurely twice, he brought his fist up to his mouth and turned to the side again. "_TCHOO!_" The sneeze was only half the size of the previous ones.

"Bless you, please stop," I said in a worried, awkward-pitched tone. My stuffy nose didn't help how pathetic I sounded.

A deep guilt started climbing through my chest. I was to blame for this. He was sneezing because of me, and I hated that more than anything.

"Look, I'm— I'm _really_ sorry. It's so stupid that I had to make you do this just because I hate doing it myself and—"

"Bella, you didn't make me. And please don't worry yourself about me."

Out of nowhere, I stood as quick as I could and started heading for the forest the way we'd come. The guilt of making Edward suffer through something that he had no business taking part in sent my blood sweltering. A vampire that sneezes? That was ridiculous and hardly possible. Even if it was possible, somehow, someway. Leave it to me to discover a way to have it be done. My stupid, stupid human tendencies had mortified me once again.

I didn't look back, but knew Edward would be trailing me to make sure I was okay. There was no reason in the world that he shouldn't have been furious with me, with everything I'd been putting him through the past few days. I wanted to crawl underneath the nearest rock and forget that I'd ever even gotten myself involved with someone other than a faulty human.

Veering off the path, I slipped to the opposite side of a tree trunk and rammed my entire body against it in anger. I felt the rough bark scratching at my forehead and cheeks, but I didn't care. As far as I was concerned, I deserved it. I punched the tree as hard as I could manage without being in an unbearable pain. Turning around, I slid down the trunk, skin against bark, and slumped against the base of it. I could feel the scratches on my back from the previous night starting to sting with freshness. But I didn't care. I just didn't care.

I pulled my knees to my chest and tucked my head under my arms. Over and over again, I replayed the sound of Edward sneezing, the sight of him standing there unguarded and vulnerable. The sound and sight of something which I never should have been able to witness.

As if he knew I was thinking about him, I heard his footsteps on the leaves. He stopped and squatted in front of me.

"Bella, are you okay? It looks like you—"

"—_I'm fine,_" I called out from my little shelter of arms and legs. A tickle situated deep in my nose and set me on edge. My breathing picked up and I could feel my hot breath forming warm splotches on my jeans.

"But you're—"

"Please," I pleaded in a tryingly peaceful but insistent tone. "I said I'm fine, I promise." Pulling my legs and arms tighter around me, I tried to stop my breathing from hitching, but the pressure in my nose was too much. My breath peaked. "heh_CHOO_, _hiitChOO!_" My second sneeze led into a deep coughing fit, and I heard Edward bless me. More pressure built, then "hitSHOO! Huh . . . hh," I inhaled, "_hitchew!_ "

"_Bless you._ Bella," Edward's voice was urgent. "_You're bleeding._"

I lifted my head when I felt his cold fingers lock around my wrist. He was dabbing at the blood on my knuckles with the handkerchief he'd grabbed from my jacket that I'd left in the field. His face was stiff, jaw set, eyes cold and hard. I could tell he was holding his breath. The scent of my blood tempted to send him into a frenzy. He always had to detach himself during situations like these. He knew his boundaries—what he could and couldn't handle— and my blood was one of the things that he couldn't.

I took the handkerchief from him and tried to stand. He clenched his fists, trying to fight the scent of my blood, and turned away in frustration. "We need to get you home to Carlisle."

Edward held the door for me as we walked into Carlisle's upstairs office at the house.

"Oh dear," he said, at first seeing my face. I caught him glancing over at Edward who was now hunched near the door, his hand tight on the door knob. "Have a seat, Bella. Let's take a look."

I sat on the granite table. He grabbed a bottle of peroxide and a few rolls of gauze from the shelf and started cleaning the scratches on my hand and face. The subtle scent of acid made my nose tingle, but I suppressed my breathing as much as I could until Dr. Cullen returned to his shelf for a box of band-aids. My eyes watering, I brought my hands up to cover my nose and mouth before I couldn't hold it in any longer. "hih_CHEW!_ _hhiSHOO!_"

"Ah," Dr. Cullen furrowed his brow. "Bless you." He scooted his chair closer to me, and splashed peroxide onto a piece of gauze. "So what happened?" he asked, applying pressure to my sliced knuckles. I flinched at the cold and stinging sensation. I could tell that he, too, was holding his breath, though he had a way of hiding it better than Edward.

"I just fell," I said, sniffling and breaking eye contact with him. I could almost taste the peroxide and blood in the air. I don't know how Edward was standing it, because I felt like I might pass out when it was my own blood. I tried inhaling through my nose, but it was too stuffy. "We were out for a walk and I tripped is all."

Carlisle nodded, wrapping my hand, and started dabbing peroxide over the scrapes on my forehead and cheeks. "You sound sick. Are you feeling alright?" His blue eyes searched mine.

"I feel fine," I shrugged, cringing again at the liquid burning my cuts.

"And how long have you been sneezing? They sound pretty strong." I could feel my face turning bright red.

"Um. Just since last night."

"Have you taken anything? It feels like you might have a temperature." He pressed the back of his hand against my forehead. It was ice cold and felt so good against my face that I didn't want him to take it off.

I shook my head, glancing over at the clock. It was after four in the afternoon. I had made a deal with Edward earlier that I'd take medicine by two o'clock if I still wasn't feeling well. I looked back to the door and saw Edward standing with his head down. He was still clutching the doorknob but was rubbing his eyes with his other hand. I figured he would be giving me his I-told-you-so stare about having to take medicine, but he seemed oblivious to Carlisle's question.

A second later, Dr. Cullen produced a thermometer and a bottle of liquid medicine that looked similar to the one Edward had tried to make me ingest. I stuck the thin end of the stick under my tongue without complaint and waited. Carlisle sat at his desk and started rummaging through one of his drawers.

Through the uncomfortable air, Edward suddenly inhaled sharply but silently stifled his sneeze. Carlisle's head shot up, his eyes questioning. They hardened in trepidation as he stood and approached him.

"Edward, are yo—"

"—I'm not sick," he growled, his voice final and separated. I'd never heard him use that tone with Carlisle, so it took me by surprise. With the thermometer still jutting out of my mouth, I turned to look at their confrontation and found Edward rubbing his nose. "Forget me. We need to take care of Bella."

The sick stick beeped. Carlisle turned his focus back to me, and read the gauge. I watched his face lift in shock. "Bella, you should go lie down. It's uh— well, it's a little worse than I thought."

Edward cleared his throat. "What's it say?"

"Dr. Cullen, I'm fine. Really," I said, trying to brush off any illness. I slid off of the table and suddenly became light-headed. I felt more tired than I'd known. My legs felt numb and wobbly, and all I could smell was peroxide and rust.

"Bella, I'm not _suggesting_ you lie down. You're temperature is running at 102. You really need to lie down." He turned to Edward, his remedial instincts taking over. "I'll run to the store to get juice, she needs to keep hydrated. Just make sure she lies down _immediately_. I'm surprised she still has the energy to stand. I'll be back soon."


	4. Fine, but Bella isn't tired

A/N- Unfortunately, i still don't own Twilight. Thanks for the reviews so far. I enjoy knowing what you think.

"_hehSHoo_."

"Bless you," Edward said, leaning against one of the window sills in his bedroom.

"hh.. huh thankhh… heh_CHoo!_" I groaned and rubbed my eyes. "Sorry."

"Bless y—"

"—I need to go to the bathroom," I said, standing up before he could finish. My head was pounding.

Edward smirked. "Might you need any help?"

I shot him the cruelest expression I could create in my current drowsy state. "Thanks, I think I can handle it."

Walking through the hallway, I noticed the door to Dr. Cullen's office ajar. He'd just left for the store to get juice— something about me needing to stay hydrated— so I knew he wouldn't be back for at least a few more minutes. I glanced back down the hall to make sure Edward couldn't see me. I slipped in and grabbed the bottle of medicine Carlisle had given me a few minutes earlier. Sure it had only been twenty minutes ago, but it obviously wasn't working yet. I needed to speed up the process. Grimacing, I gulped a mouthful down and placed the bottle in the exact position it had been in—I couldn't be too careful. Vampires always picked up on those kinds of things.

Not even having to use the bathroom, I made a quick stop and flushed the toilet so Edward would hear it and wouldn't be suspicious.

When I walked back into the room, he was resting his head back against the window, his arms crossed in front of him. His eyes were shut, and he wasn't moving.

I sat on the edge of his bed and watched him for a minute, waiting.

"Hello?" He didn't answer. Then it hit me. This was the perfect chance to get him. Payback for him always being so stealth and tricky with me. Really, the joke was on him because he wouldn't even _notice_ my stealth ways through his fake sleeping.

Silently, I grabbed one of the pillows behind me and threw it as hard as I could manage. Just before it smacked into his face, he whipped his hand up and caught it with a grin.

My mouth shot open at my near victory. "_How'd you!_"

"I could hear you, sneaky Bella," he said, slowly creeping towards me with a chuckle. I slid back to the middle of the full-sized bed, a streak of playful panic shooting through my chest. I couldn't tell if he was calling me sneaky for trying to hit him with the pillow or for upping my dosage of medicine without consent.

Climbing onto the bed, he straddled my waist and pinned my wrists above me, causing me to completely fall back onto the mattress. My heart was pounding, my breathing heightened. I suddenly felt exhausted and slow and giggly, all while my eyes were burning for a heavy sleep.

He lowered his face next to mine as I continued to laugh uncontrollably. Furrowing his brow, his voice sounded strained. "What, I'm not convincing enough to be scary?"

I shook my head, my abs starting to ache for so much laughter. I turned my head to the side, exposing my neck. "_Try_ me," I challenged him. "Just do it."

His legs tensed at the challenge, and he leaned further on top of me. He placed his cold cheek on mine. "You're sure."

A tingle settled into my nose which made my giggling start to subside. I nodded. "One-hundred amounts positive," I said, letting out the deepest controlled breath I could.

His ice hand lingered at the side of my neck as he brushed my hair away. My breathing started to waver, and I couldn't tell which felt more urgent. The tickle in my nose or Edward's thrilling touch at my collarbone. My breath hitched, but hung in the air. "hh . . . huh . . ." I controlled my breathing for a moment more, but immediately lost it, "_hitchew_, hheht_chew!_" I flinched at the feel of my own spit on my locked arm.

Without seeming to have even noticed my sneezes, Edward brought his fierce lips to the tender spot under my ear and gently kissed me. Then further down my neck, and another, leaving a trail of frozen kisses. Then, like nothing had happened, he leaned back up and released my arms.

"_One-hundred amounts_, huh?" There was a hint of velvet perplexity.

With a huge grin plastered to my face, I nodded, my hot hair frizzing against the navy blue comforter below us.

He untangled himself from me and sat up. Working to sit like him, I climbed to my hands and knees and stared at him, my hair dangling over my shoulder. My grin disappeared at his now serious face.

"You took more medicine." His voice seemed to hold no emotion.

"Wha? Why would someone, especially one like me, do that." I was still on my hands and knees staring up at him.

He placed his hand on the back of my head and led my face to his. Edward kissing my lips, I leaned into him and pressed my whole body as hard as I could into his. If anyone else were in the room, they would've felt the pure energy of our smashing mouths, but again, Edward suddenly pulled back.

"You took more medicine. I can taste it."

"Just maybe don't tell anyone," I whispered, crawling back to him, reaching for his marble mouth. He refused to let me kiss him, and instead, pulled me into his chest in a tight hug.

"Bella, you need to lie down and sleep it off."

"Sleep what off, _Bella_ isn't tired." My voice was dripping with innocence, all little-kid like.

"Mhmm . . . that must be why Bella is referring to herself in third person."

"Fine, but Bella isn't very happy." I silently yawned. "Remember that, okay?"

I pulled away from his arms and settled into the mountain of pillows beside him, my eyes already half-closing. Edward stood and walked to the other side of the bed. He slipped my shoes off and lifted me up as he turned down the comforter beneath me. He planted a kiss on my forehead, and stood beside the bed, not moving.

After a minute, my nose started to itch. I stirred, not having reached sleep yet.

"Edward?" My voice was soft and sleepy as he lined his eyes up with mine.

"Yes, love."

"I didn't mean Bella wasn't happy with you because I couldn't not be happier with you. I think Bella's always definitely happy with you."

Through my lethargy, I heard Edward chuckle, probably at how incoherent I was. "I know," he said, squatting and kissing my hand. "I know she is."

Rousing, I heard two barely audible voices. I opened my eyes but didn't move. The light outside was starting to die away. I could tell one of the voices was Edward. The other, I assumed, was Dr. Cullen.

"I _just_ got her down, we should let her sleep while she _will_."

"Edward, we really cannot wait. And you _know_ you need to . . ."

I rolled over, stretching my arms. They must have heard me because they both turned around at the same time, their voices dropping off. I tried smiling, but it felt like more of a scowl.

"Well," Edward said with the slightest hint of sourness. "She's up. I'll take care of her."

Carlisle nodded. "I'll be in the office if you need me." Turning back to his son, he gave him a serious glance. "Just . . . be careful."

"What's going on?" I asked, trying to sit up. My head was light and I felt like there was liquid energy running through my veins.

Edward shut the door after Carlisle and ran a hurried hand through his hair. "Nothing much. Are you ready to try drinking something?" he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, brushing a few wisps of hair out of my face.

"No thanks, I'm not thirsty."

"Nonsense, I haven't seen you drink anything all day." Insisting I drink, he reached over to the nightstand and picked up two glasses. "Now which flavor would you like? We have orange and we have apple."

"Apple, please," I said, not waiting for him to hand it to me before I wrapped my lips around the straw. He continued holding the glass as I chugged. Within a minute, I downed the entire cup, gulp for gulp. It was nice and cool swimming down my dry throat.

He held the glass of orange juice out to me next. Without a word, I started gulping it, but quit before I could drink enough. The acidic bitterness pooled in the back of my throat and made me cringe. Clearing my throat, I shook my head at him and made a face.

"I don't like that one."

"No?" He set the glasses back on the nightstand. "Can I get you more of the apple kind?"

I laughed, letting my head fall back into the pillows. "You said _that_ funny!"

Edward's lip curled up in amusement. "_That?_ Did I?"

I nodded quickly as an abrupt heat ran through me. Digging my legs out from underneath the comforter, I peeled my socks off and grabbed at the bottom of my sweater, trying to wiggle out of it. As soon as Edward realized what I was doing, he helped lift it over my head.

"Why don't we lie down and try to get you back to sleep?" he said enthusiastically, pulling at the bottom of my white tee-shirt that was threatening to ride up. He tossed the sweater to the end of the bed.

"But I'm not tired, I just woke up." He stared at me, half-smiling, and didn't speak.

"Oooh I know," I sang, quickly lifting myself to hug him. He embraced me, his coolness wrapping around me.

"What do you know?" Edward's voice was simple and willing. The kind of voice you use when talking to a five year old.

"Well, we can play a game."

"And which game is that?" he whispered.

"It's called . . ." I started to giggle into his neck. "The _staring_ game."

Edward couldn't help but chuckle. "The staring game, hm? And how might one play the staring game."

"Okay, you go like this." I untangled myself from him and slid back onto the bed. Pulling at his arm, I tried to get him to move. "You have to sit there like this, like I am."

Playing along, he sat across from me at arm's length, mimicking my cross-legged position.

"Good! _Nowww_, all we have to do is we stare."

"It's that simple?" Edward questioned.

I nodded and rubbed at my tingling nose. "But if youhh." I took a deep breath. "If you quit starehhing, then youhh_apSHoo!_" I sneezed into my hands, my throat burning from the acid of the orange juice. I continued talking through Edward blessing me. "Then you hautomatichhally _hh_ het_chOO!_ You'd _lose_," I sniffled. "So you better not lose. Er, I mean you better not stop staring."

Edward reached over me to the nightstand and grabbed the box of tissues, setting them in front of me. I blew my nose, feeling all the gunk drain out.

"Ready, _go_."

We sat there, eye to eye, knees to knees, staring at each other. Completely silent except for my stuffy breathing, I laid my arms— palms facing upward— on his thighs. He followed my lead and placed his arms in mine. I shivered at the chill, but it felt so good against my skin. Still staring, Edward raised an eyebrow like he was expecting me to lose, but I refused to look away.

He suddenly tensed as he wrapped his fingers around my forearms. Still staring at me, he blinked three times—more than I'd ever seen him blink at one time. Retracting his arms, he slid off the bed and walked over to the window, his left hand balled into a fist at his side.

I laughed, crawling to my knees. "Yesss, this means I win."

I watched his shoulders hunch forward in a quick but noiseless jolt. Turning back around, he smiled. "You can't win off of that, I had to sneeze."

"Bless you, but you stopped staring."

He tried to mock my little, saddened voice. "Thank you, and fine. Best two out of three?" He took his seat again, this time leaving a few more feet between us.

"Good, I'll just have to beat you three times, then." I flashed him a huge grin.

"Oh _yeah?_" He grabbed both of my feet and pulled me closer to him. I fell backward in laughter. "Good luck trying," he said sarcastically, helping me sit back up.

"Ready, _go!_"

Not even thirty seconds later, Edward scrunched up his nose. "Blessssss you, I can't believe you're going to let me win again, _sneezer_."

He laughed out loud. "You are being silly tonight, Bella. I quite like it."

I furrowed my brow at him.

"And you're kind of jumping the gun there, aren't you? I haven't sneezed, I could be faking for all you know."

"I'm not silly, _you_ are." I situated myself on my knees, trying to be taller than him. "Plus you only ever sneeze once that I hear."

Chuckling, he furrowed his brow at how illogical I was sounding. "What's that?"

Sticking my face closer to his, I started feeling sleepy. "You only sneeze _once_, and it's not fair."

"And you sneeze _double_ when you're sick. How is that not fair?" He tried matching my confused expression.

"What? No . . ." I watched Edward purse his lips and push them out. I felt like he was purely teasing me.

"Yes, when you're sick, you hardly ever sneeze less than twice." He held up two thin fingers and touched my pouting lips.

Giggling, I felt my nose start to tickle again. I rubbed it and sniffled. "No-huh, I can sneeze only once sometimes."

"Really? I'm not sure if I believe that," he said, taking both of my hands in his lap and interlocking our fingers. "Let's see it."

"No way, I am _not_ losing for you." I tried yanking my hands out of his, but he wouldn't let me. "Nooo," I whined.

"Just once? Pretty please?"

Rolling my eyes, I scrunched up my nose like Edward had earlier and waited. "It hhisn't coming," I said, my eyes starting to water.

He didn't say anything, as I tried to ready myself. Still staring into his eyes, my mouth parted and my own eyes started to lightly flutter. I had to concentrate on my sneeze. "_hh_ . . . I don't hhthink hit's . . ."

Edward smiled and lowered his eyes, sheepishly. I couldn't help but giggle at his reaction, which caused the tickle to disappear and my breath to fall. I pushed our locked hands into his stomach as hard as I could, which wasn't very hard at all. "You're so _meaaaan!_"

Releasing my hands, he bent towards me and kissed me hard on the mouth. I scooted back to the head of the bed as he followed, still pressing his lips into mine. Taking a breather after another kiss, I dropped onto my elbows on the pillows. We were still staring at each other, his eyes smoldering right through mine. Still catching my breath, I rubbed my eyes and accidentally yawned.

"Sorry to bore you," he chuckled, his voice lowering to match the atmosphere.

I shook my head at him, trying to suppress another yawn.

"Sleepy Bella," he whispered with a smile, touching the back of his hand to my face. I was suddenly too tired to move or think, but all I knew is that I didn't want sleep.

After what felt like five more minutes of us staring at each other, I forced myself to actually see Edward, to consciously study him in my mind. My droopy eyes wandered his honey brown hair. His eyes, much darker than his hair today, were rimmed with a thin stream of fiery golden ocher. Underneath his eyes were two dark purple splotches. It looked like he had two black eyes. My heart sank.

Reaching my hand up, I touched each spot with my finger. I held onto the collar of his shirt and tried to pull him lower towards me. Still staring, he brought his head to mine. I kissed each circle under his eyes, and he put his lips on mine for one last kiss.

I tried to keep my eyes open as long as I could, but they eventually fell. My head started swarming with bizarre images of distorted figures, but through it all I heard Edward quietly humming what sounded like a lullaby.

Snapping back to consciousness with a sudden jolt, I panted for air with a coughing gasp and saw Edward still leaning over me. At my waking, he stopped humming and pressed his hand to my forehead. When I couldn't hear him purring anymore, I fell into an echoing confusion. "Bella?" Then nothing. "Bella?"

I heard my name a few more times until it finally fizzled out into the distance.


	5. This is me kissing you

"Bella?" I felt cold fingers on my arm. "_Bella?_" Impulsively flinching, I came to consciousness as soon as I realized the voice was beside me.

"Bella, what's so funny?" Alice was laying on her stomach, an arm's length away, her white feet tracing dainty circles in the air. She was thumbing through what looked to be a thick fashion magazine.

I rubbed at my eyes, momentarily forgetting where I was. "What's funny." My throat felt like sandpaper erupting from my raw throat, and I could still taste a hint of acid lingering on the back of my tongue from the orange juice.

Alice giggled. "I'm not sure, that's why I asked. You were laughing in your sleep. You might've been dreaming." Her voice was smooth and sweet like Edward's, only a few octaves higher and airy, like cotton candy. "You laughed some earlier, too. I wondered what was so humorous, do you remember?" She flipped another page of the glossy magazine, barely even glancing down at it.

Now, I had heard of talking in your sleep, which I myself did quite often, as Edward usually made a habit of pointing out. But _laughing_ in your sleep? That just sounded bizarre. Scoffing at myself, I shut my eyes and thought about what I might have found so funny in my sleep.

I remembered seeing the color red, dark and vivid, almost showy. There was a bird in an oak tree. As the rest of the dream reassembled itself, I chuckled at how completely random it was. Alice looked up, her eyes sparkling through her long eyelashes.

"It was Edward. He was sitting on a branch of this huge tree. Next to a tiny rainbow-colored bird." I spoke slowly as I replayed the dream in my mind. "The bird would peck him on the hand. Every time he did, these bright red words would form all over Edward's skin. Like graffiti or something."

Laughing, her eyes cornered me and she furrowed her brow. "I can't imagine a tiny little bird pecking huge Edward. I bet it was a funny sight."

"It really was. And, I mean, the bird wasn't trying to be mean or hurt Edward or anything, so it wasn't very frightening."

"Do you remember any of the words? On Edward's skin?"

Pulling at some of the tangles in my hair, I considered this. After a minute of nothing, I decided that I didn't remember any of the dream words I'd seen. I shook my head.

"Hmm. Well, it's interesting, nonetheless." She cocked her head to the side, her still-animated voice floating above us in the room. "More pressing, though, Bella, is how in the world did you dream up something like a _rainbow_ bird?"

Smiling in embarrassment, I shrugged. "I'm sure I didn't make them up. They have to exist somewhere, don't they?"

Our collective laughter eventually died down as we mused more about the dream. Looking out the window, I noticed it was completely dark outside. The only light around us was the table lamp sitting on the nightstand. It threw a golden hue on Alice, making her tight, gentle body look like a bronzed statue of a garden nymph.

Changing the subject, I decided to ask something I'd been wondering ever since I woke. "Where's Edward?"

Sitting up, Alice closed the magazine with a grin. I supposed she could sense my apprehension of his absence. "He's hunting."

I nodded, recalling the ghostly shade of purple I'd seen underneath his sad eyes just before I'd fallen asleep. In all honesty, I couldn't have been more glad that he was hunting. No matter how painful it was being away from him, I had to convince myself that he needed food more than I needed him. Plus, seeing the life and color drained out of him like that somehow always made me feel like I was accountable for his suffering.

"He's been gone for a few hours now, but he should be back soon."

"Did he go alone?" I asked, clearing my throat and sniffling. A deep tickle situated itself in my nose. Reaching over to the nightstand, I grabbed three tissues trying to be as nonchalant as I could.

"No, he wasn't alone," she said, carefully watching me. "Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett went, as well."

The tingle set in even deeper. I was a nervous wreck as I felt Alice studying me, her eyes piercing me through. Pushing myself up to a sitting position like hers, I stared at a spot in front of me on the comforter, trying to ready myself. Before long, the sneezes surfaced and I pressed the tissues to my face as hard as I could to muffle the sound. "hit_Chmm_, heht_CHmn!_"

Looking up from my tissues, I found Alice still staring, her eyebrows arched in curiosity and her mouth hanging slightly open.

I felt another tickle in the same nostril, but this one emerged much quicker. "hhs— suhorry," I tried to say, bringing the wet tissues back up. "_ehSHew_, heh_SHuu!_"

"Oh my gosh." She waited to see if I was done. After a few seconds of silence, she finally spoke. "Blesses, Bella."

A certain guilt wrapped around me. I emptied my nose as best I could before meeting her glance. "Sorry, thanks."

"We'd been hearing about you— well, _doing that_, but I didn't imagine it being this bad at all."

Grabbing another tissue, I looked up, half-suspicious, half-mortified. "_We?_"

Alice shrugged her petite shoulders. "Word gets around quick in the Cullen family. Carlisle was telling us so we wouldn't be worried."

I could feel the crimson creeping up my neck and face. After another awkward silence, Alice questioned me, her voice quieter this time, almost in a whisper. "What does it feel like?"

"What does _what_ feel like?" Already, I think I knew what she was wondering and could feel my chest starting to cave in from the humiliation of it. But if she wanted to know badly enough, I was going to make her say it.

"_You know_," she whispered again. After reading my confused expression, she refuted it sharply.

"Oh, come on, Bella. It's just me. It's not like you're talking to _Emmett_ here."

"Yeah well, if word gets around so quick in the Cullen family then telling you may very well be like telling _Emmett_." I threw my arms across my chest in defense and watched her roll her eyes.

"Why do yhou want to huh," I took a quick and short breath in. "_esshhoo_." Blowing my nose, I waited for another, but felt nothing. I silently cursed myself. I had just disproved Edward's _Bella-only-sneezing-doubles-while-sick_ theory, and he wasn't even around to witness it.

"Bless," Alice said, twisting a section of her short black hair around her pinky.

"Thanks, but um," I tossed the filled tissues over the side of the bed into the trashcan. "Why do you want to know."

"I . . . just haven't done it in so long. I kind of forget." The sadness from her voice quickly bled through me. I was sad for Alice, for Edward and Carlisle and Emmett and the rest of the Cullens. For all vampires, for the simple things they missed about being human. But I made it up in my mind that _when I would change_— not if— I would never miss such a stupid, faulty thing as sneezing. Before I could verbalize my thoughts, Alice stood, the life having soaked back into her tone. "Do you want some medicine or are you feeling better?"

I remembered Edward being upset with me for having sneaked double my dosage earlier in the evening. "Am I allowed more?"

Alice shrieked with a sigh. "Geez, Bella, what are they going to do, withhold medicine from you so you can't get better? Of course you're allowed to take some. Plus Carlisle said it was fine to see if you needed more when you woke."

Returning from the office, she sat next to me and held the little plastic cup filled with red to my lips. Suddenly, I felt odd and wonderful all in the same second. Odd because with a cup of scarlet liquid in front of me and the thought of no longer being human freshly stirring my brain, I imagined that the medicine was not medicine at all. Tonight it would be blood. I would merely be inhaling an everyday vampire essential.

And wonderful because Edward had mentioned earlier that he liked me being silly. And this medicine made me silly. Tonight I would be a silly, blood-sucking vampire. A chill ran down my spine in excitement. Smiling, I swallowed the thickness as fast as I could.

"So? What's it like?"

I made a face. "Uggh. It tastes gross."

"Not the _medicine_, silly."

"_Alice_."

"Oh Bella, _please_. I swear I won't tell a single person." Her voice sounded desperate and sweet. As usual, I found it hard to refuse.

Really, it was a simple question, and I wanted to give her what she wanted, but I didn't know how to begin explaining it. The thought of even trying to explain it made me self-conscious in ways that only Edward had known in me.

With a huff, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Um."

Alice settled into her spot with the small smile of someone who rarely didn't get what she asked for.

"It's like," I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "I don't know, the sneeze builds up, all of your senses heightening to the max, to where uh, where you lose control of everything for a split second on the release. I don't know how to explain it." I pressed my hands to my hot face as she sadly smiled.

"That sounds nice. I wish I could lose control like that."

"No, Alice. No you don't. It just . . . hurts."

Suddenly, as if she hadn't heard any of what I'd said, she perked up sitting completely straight, her eyes darting to a different spot in the room. She looked lost in concentration. "They're back," she whispered, standing and opening the door. Five seconds later, Edward immediately walked in without pause, his body much more relaxed than it had been a few hours earlier. He and Alice made eye-contact, their lips barely moving in a silent-like whisper, something no one would have picked up on if they weren't consciously watching for it. She waved to me and closed the door behind her.

"Hi, love," Edward said, slowly taking Alice's spot on the bed. His eyes searched me up and down.

"Hi." I wrapped my arms around his neck as he leaned down to me. He slid his arms underneath my back, pulling my tee-shirt down from riding up against the hot mattress. I felt his cold fingers brush against my lower back.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," I whispered, my voice sounding much more content now that he was back.

"Excellent." He pulled his head back to look at me. "I'm sorry it took so long, I tried to hurry home as fast as I—"

_Home._

Completely panicking, I pushed myself out of Edward's arms. "_What time is it?_"

Sitting up, he flipped his wrist over to look at his watch. "Almost 11:30."

My stomach clenched into a thousand different knots. As quick as I could, I started trying to free my legs from the comforter.

"_I have to go,_" I said, a hard lump forming at the back of my throat. I had told Charlie I'd be with Edward for the _afternoon_, not the entire _night_. Surely he would ground me for an entire year. Then he would forbid me from ever again seeing Edward. Or maybe it would be the other way around—the forbidding part first. Either way, I could certainly live with one of those punishments. The other, not so much . . .

As I shot off the edge of the bed, Edward lunged and grabbed me by the waist. "Whoa, hey, what's going o—"

"_CHARLIE!_" I forced through my collapsing lungs, desperately trying to free myself from iron arms.

"No, no, no, whoa. Bells," his voice was urgent but quickly calmed me as he turned me around, looked me in the eyes, and sat me sideways in his lap. My tears were about to spill over as he cupped my chin in his hand. "Bella, it's okay. Carlisle took care of it. He gave Charlie a call earlier this evening."

"What does he—" I tried to speak through my gasping breaths and dry sobs.

"He's fine, everything's fine. He's over at La Push for the weekend. I think he's staying with that uh, with— Billy Black."

"What did you tell him?" I asked, sniffling, a few tears streaking down my face. Edward touched my cheek with his finger to dissolve them. He rubbed the wet into his dark jeans.

"Carlisle told him you were still feeling a bit under the weather, that we'd keep you here so you wouldn't be home by yourself."

My head started to feel light and wobbly. The medicine must have been catching up with me again. Edward wouldn't be happy if he found out. Or on the contrary, maybe he would say how great he thought I was as silly Bella. Either way, I had to control myself this time. "What d—did he say? He was mad?"

"Not at all. He thought he should come home, but Carlisle convinced him that we're perfectly capable of nursing you back to health. At least until he's back."

I sniffled again and wiped at my eyes with the now-stretched out collar of my white tee-shirt. "Well you aren't doing an amazing job of putting me back healthy," I said, my sobbing starting to fade.

Edward chuckled. "I thought you were feeling better."

"Oh." I nodded. "Guess I forgot."

I dug my warm arms under his, embracing him around the waist, and pressed my face into his chest. I felt tiny in his arms. The first thing I noticed was his scent. If it was, at all, possible he smelled sweeter tonight. Tonight he was a hint of lime doused in sugar. He was mixed with green forest and sprinkled with cold rain. I wanted to inhale him forever, but my nose started to itch after a minute. It was a truth about me that Edward knew: That not every part of me could always handle him.

My breathing quickened as the tickle built, but I didn't want to stop inhaling his scent. Closing my eyes, I knew I was going to have to conceal this from Edward. I had _just_ told him I was feeling better. If he heard me sneeze, he would know something was up.

I brought my right hand up, pinching my nose shut and hoped that the pressure would disappear. After a minute, I released it, but still felt the tickle. Taking a subtle but deep breath in, I stifled the first sneeze, feeling it strong in my stomach and chest. Another breath in and then the second. _Yes_, I thought, _I got these two past Edward_. Somehow, I had stifled them silently.

"Bless you, bless you," Edward whispered into the top of my hair, his tone soft. He rubbed my back in continuous circles. "Are you sure you're feeling better?"

Looking up, I nodded with a scowl. There was no way he had heard me sneeze. He must have been cheating again. "What about _you_, Mister?"

His eyebrows lifted in a curious playfulness. "What about me?"

"Well, how much did you sneeze when you weren't here?"

Edward smirked and looked away from me.

"_How_ many times was it," I said, poking him in the side with my finger, which I'm sure he didn't even feel.

"That's beside the point."

"Look." Shaking my head against his chest, I tried to fidget out of his arms. "_You_ are right _here_. _The point_ is over there," I said, pointing at one of the pillows behind him. I grinned as big as I could to his face. "That is to the back of you, not beside you."

"Oh yeah? Well how many times did _you_ sneeze while I wasn't here?"

I shrugged. "An odd number, I know that."

"An odd number, as in oddly big, right?"

I made my voice little. "No. _Odd_ as in, I beat your theory."

One of Edward's eyebrows dipped. "My theory?"

"Your _silly-Bella-only-sneezes-twice-times-when-she's-si ck_ theory."

"I see, and how did you go about disproving that one?"

"I just _did_, okay? Just ask Alice, she was there."

He smiled and ran a hand through his tousled hair. "Alice said you sneezed about six times while you were awake. Six is, clearly, an even number."

Hunching my back in defeat, I madly slid from Edward's lap onto the bed. He turned and faced me, obviously proud of already having trampled clean over my supposedly false claim of having sneezed a single.

"No, there is a _huge_ difference."

"A difference in what?"

"In six and about six."

"And what is the difference there, hm?"

I took a deep breath.

"_This is me kissing you_," I said, rising to my knees. I locked my arms around his neck and pressed my malleable lips to his with as much power as I could. Squishing my lips, I tried to make hard shapes around and inside his lips, letting his mouth mold mine. But still not being able to fully breathe through my nose, I pulled away after fifteen seconds.

Drawing backward, I saw that Edward's eyes were the size of shiny half-dollars, a wavering smile plastered on his freshly kissed lips.

Finishing my point, I held my face right in front of his, not even an inch separating our lips, our noses touching side-to-side. "And this is me _about_ to kiss you," I whispered almost drunkenly. I could hear my own heavy, sick breathing against his perfect mouth. Without breaking our closeness, I blindly found one of his hands and placed it on my heart. Slowly slipping it over my chest and up my neck to the spot just underneath my jaw, I placed two of his fingers on my racing pulse.

Still maintaining proximity, my breath started to hitch with exigency. My nose obviously couldn't have chosen a worse time to act up. I tried to control my shallow breaths, but I knew I wouldn't be able to hold the sneeziness in this time. Finally uncoiling my limbs from him, I turned away at the last moment, planting my hands beside me on the mattress to absorb the force. My hair was hanging over my shoulder, so I ducked my chin into my chest. "heehtCHEW!" Trying to finish my point, I continued. "See, thhhehre's ah huh, heh_iSHUU!_" I cleared my throbbing throat.

"There's a gigantic difference," I concluded, wiping at my now-running nose with the back of my hand, not making eye-contact with Edward.

Without a word, he stiffly handed me some tissues. "Bless you, Bella," he finally said, his voice low and airy with a tinge of uncertainty.

After emptying my nose, I looked up at him from underneath my straggly hair. My voice was small and hesitant just like his. "Do you believe me now?"

His expression readjusted. His jaw relaxed and his mouth formed a small dot, his eyebrows slightly lifting. He slowly shook his head. "Almost, but not quite."

"Fine. Don't move." I slid off the bed and headed for the door.

"And where are you going?"

Without pausing, I answered him in finality. "To get _Alice_."


End file.
